9 Ways to Make School Lunch Cool Again

Friday

Aug 15, 2014 at 12:01 AMAug 15, 2014 at 11:28 PM

Make school lunch a snap with these nine simple, mom-approved ideas—recipes included.

Kids might thinK reading, writing and ‘rithmetic are tough. But the three Rs are nothing compared with moms’ biggest back-to-school challenge: packing a noontime meal kids will actually eat. Make school lunch a snap with these nine simple, mom-approved ideas.
1. Color their world. Allow kids to pick a color and choose foods of the same hue, suggests Katie Workman, who blogs at themom100blog.com. A “green day” could be cucumber, grapes, kiwi, chicken on a spinach wrap and limeade; a “red day” may include watermelon, grape tomatoes, a Red Delicious apple, peanut but- ter and raspberry jam.

2. Go beyond the bread. Make the typical sandwich special by swapping a biscuit, English muffin, burger bun or sandwich thin for ho-hum bread. When ham and cheese are layered in a crescent roll, things get going.

3. The cure for pick-y eaters. “Give a kid a toothpick and they’ll eat about anything,” says Amy Flanigan, a Sacramento, Calif., mom who blogs at veryculinary.com. Her daughter’s absolute favorite? Cubes of mozzarella cheese skewered with rolled salami and cherry tomatoes.

4. The ‘thrill of the hunt’ wrap. Another tip from Katie Workman: Turn lunch-pack- ing chores into a scavenger hunt. Give each child a tortilla or wrap, and let them scour the fridge and pantry to cre- ate their own wrap. This taps into their inner inventor, gets their buy-in, and likely results in some interesting combos.

5. C’mon, it’s just a snack. To some kids, snacks just sound more interesting than meals. Play along by packing little bits of this and that—a snack mix combo of nuts, raisins and crispy rice cereal; small containers of yogurt; cubes of turkey, ham and cheese; applesauce or a simple fruit salad; snack bags full of chips and crackers. Toss in one of these quick and easy oatmeal bars with cherries and pecans.

Pecan Cherry Cereal Bars

An easy oatmeal-based dough doubles as a crust and crumbly top, sandwiching a layer of tangy jam in this sweet treat.

6. The puzzler. Catherine Newman, an Amherst, Mass., mom of two who blogs at benandbirdy.blogspot. com, cores and slices an apple with a steel apple slicer, puts it back together puzzle- style, and secures with a rubber band. This not only makes it more

fun to eat, but keeps the apple slices from browning. A little creative knife-work can also turn an otherwise ordinary sandwich into a puzzle for little fingers to pull apart.

7. If they build it ... Take a cue from the folks who make Lunchables and pack items that kids can assemble, control and get creative with: Turkey, cheese and pita bread triangles or wraps for sandwiches; crackers, individual packets of peanut butter and celery sticks for snacks.

8. Love Letters. Surprise your little one with a love note, suggests blogger- mom Amy Flanigan. Keep them short and simple, and use them as an opportunity to incorporate sight words or words they may be learning. For older kids, clip and share a cute cartoon—while your kids may not show it, your little gesture will mean a lot to them.

9. The sneaky smoothie. Who says smoothies are just for breakfast? Whip up this yummy treat, sneakily stocked with tons of nutrition, and pour into a Thermos for a liquid lunch.